Hi I'm new here. I'm not pregnant, not even trying yet actually. I get my iud out tomorrow (hopefully). I'm really interested in having a home birth. I have two sons already, both born in the hospital and both less than ideal experiences. I have not approached the subject with my husband yet, I think it will take some serious convincing there. I'm trying to gather all of my info and make sure it's something that I feel confident that I want and can do before I bring it up with him.

I don't have the best insurance. It is a private plan and I'm paying for an expensive maternity rider. My maternity deductible is 2500 and wouldn't cover a home birth. If I have complications it would apply to my regular insurance. I raised my deductible there to 10,000 so we could afford the maternity rider in the first place. All in all, our premium is close to 500/mo.

My question for you all, if I decide to go with a home birth is it too risky to drop the maternity rider and just pay out of pocket? Is it better to keep the maternity insurance just in case my midwife would suggest it is better for me to birth in the hospital? OR does that not really happen. My first two births were uncomplicated, but I have since learned that I have a fibroid. If I could drop the maternity rider I could get much, much better insurance overall, it just wouldn't cover the maternity part. It would make it easier to save for the home birth, which would be 3200. I talked to one midwife about it and she would like to try to submit it to the insurance and try to get it covered. Although, I suspect that her motive is that she charges 4000 to insurance rather than the 3200 to those that self-pay. Not sure I would go with her just because of that. If they rejected the claim the cost to us between insurance and that fee would be enormous.

Thank you for any advice anyone can give me! I don't really know who else to ask these questions too.